


beneath the stars (came fallin' on our heads)

by kadma



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Gentle Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 01:56:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12048915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kadma/pseuds/kadma
Summary: Penny wants to lie, to say she's fine, but Maru's hazel-brown eyes bore into her, not menacingly, not meanly, but with the curiosity of one who simply wants to know the truth.Written forPress Start Exchange 2017.





	beneath the stars (came fallin' on our heads)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BonesOfBirdWings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BonesOfBirdWings/gifts).



Maru is potential personified. Without fully understanding all of her complex science terminology, Penny can see it, can hear it, can feel it when Maru's voice quivers and her eyes sparkle and she trembles with excitement. Maru can do much, much better than working as Dr. Harvey's assistant. She's too big and too bright for Stardew Valley.

Even her parents can see that she's different, more neurotic than her peers but more invested in the world around her; Demetrius has that funny look whenever Maru invites Penny over, and she's probably reading into it too much, but it's almost as he thinks her presence will lower Maru's IQ. Robin's more accepting, inviting her to dinner nearly every time she visits, a request she sadly has to turn down, because if she doesn't get back to the trailer and fix something up, her mother isn't going to eat anything at all, and that'll foul her mood even more than just a regular hangover. Of course, she doesn't tell Robin this -- only that she's needed at home, and Robin smiles and says, "Another time, then."

Maru doesn't notice these things about her parents, or about herself. Maybe she's simply become used to it. Maybe she thinks admitting just how smart she is would be conceited. But Maru's never been one for putting on appearances (though she's made actual smokescreens before) and if she sees what Penny sees, she interprets it with that brilliant, logical mind, and probably comes to a much more correct conclusion.

Penny sighs, folding her hands in her lap. She's perched on Maru's bed whilst her best friend sits cross-legged on the floor, screwdriver in hand, her tongue edging out of the corner of her mouth, eyes focused on the metal parts in her hands. And somehow, she still manages to talk to Penny.

"How were the kids today?"

Penny sighs.

"Vincent almost ate a thistle. It was lucky I caught him in time!"

Maru winces. "Yikes. Lucky they have you, hmm?"

"I guess." Penny can't stop the small sigh that escapes her lips, and though she tries to mask it with a cough, it sounds forced, and the ever-intelligent Maru sees through her facade and looks at her curiously. She puts down her work carefully and sits beside Penny on the bed.

"What's up, Pen?"

Penny wants to lie, to say she's fine, but Maru's hazel-brown eyes bore into her, not menacingly, not meanly, but with the curiosity of one who simply wants to know the truth.

"I'm sorry, I just... I don't understand you, sometimes, Maru. I don't understand how you can stand any of this."

"I'm don't know what you're talking about."

"Um. I don't mean..." Penny drops her head into her hands. Maru dances her fingers across Penny's shoulder, lightly fingering the neckline of her blouse. She waits, knowing, as always, that Penny needs time to get the right words out. "You shouldn't be here, Maru. You should be out there. The world needs you and your brain. And you deserve it. You work so hard, care so much, and you're... you're brilliant."

Maru rubs her back.

Penny's doing her utmost not to cry out of sheer frustration, because what she wants most, right now, is something that Maru can't or won't give her -- a response.

"You could be in college right now," she continues, struggling to mask the tremble in her words. "You could be in M.I.T. You could be building space shuttles or studying the stars all around the world. But you... I don't understand why you stay here. If I could leave-- I want you to be successful. I want you to be happy, Maru."

A small, still silence falls between them, like a curtain closing at the end of a performance.

"Is that everything you wanted to say?"

Penny hiccups. Her throat is dry. She can't look at Maru; she's not brave enough take back what she said, she's not humorous enough to pose it as a prank.

"Yes," she says.

Maru lifts Penny's chin with her fingers, forcing her to look, really look at the face before her. Maru speaks to her, as quietly as she's ever heard and steals all the questions from her lips.

"You're right. I could go anywhere right now. Dad wants me to go to college, and he even suggested MIT. I could look at Aurora Borealis in Iceland, surrounded by shivering specialists. I could be part of the team that sends the next robots to Mars. I could, if I worked harder than I ever have, I could even fall in love with someone else."

Maru smiles shyly.

"But I don't want any of that. I don't want them, I don't want it, I don't want what's over there. Stardew Valley is my home. You, and Sam, and even Dr. Harvey are my friends. My family is close by. The sky is incredible in the early hours of the morning, with a view anyone from NASA would kill for. I want to be here, Penny. I want to be here, with you."

Maru's eyes shine with more than just impassioned tears and Penny falls into her arms, surprise melting into a deep warmth that heats her cheeks and arms with each of Maru's gentle kisses to her forehead.

"But your parents--"

"Are my parents. That's all. I'm my own woman."

Penny takes a slow, deep breath and raises her lips to Maru, and when they kiss, all those differences and distractions feather away into the cluttered background. All she can taste, and smell, and feel, is Maru. Her tender mouth takes control of Penny's bitten lips; she kisses back with a similar uncertainty of what she's doing, but knowing exactly how the actions make her feel. Maru's hands are chapped and tough, stroking her cheek and running her fingers through the wisps of hair around Penny's face. Penny pulls back, suddenly lost for air, and looks at Maru, whose reddening cheeks and wide smile brings out the same expression in her own face.

Maru is potential personified. Whatever she decides her future is going to be, right now, she _wants_ to be in Pelican Town and she _wants_ to be with Penny.

"Do you understand now?" says Maru. Their foreheads touch, their eyes lock onto one another, and Penny can feel Maru's breath against her lips.

Penny takes a moment to think. It's her life, too, and she can choose to understand or choose to push Maru in another direction. She shakes her head.

"I think I can try," says Penny, smiling.


End file.
